


Speechless

by perfectparadox



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, miraculous swap, post-Oblivio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2019-12-07 12:12:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18234713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectparadox/pseuds/perfectparadox
Summary: Hawkmoth has akumatised another victim, this time into Silencer. When Ladybug gets caught by a blast and can't speak, how is she going to set everything back to rights? How will she transform back to Marinette? How will Chat Noir deal with a Ladybug who is entirely reliant on him to make the right choices?I'm on tumblr as kittynoirandladybugaboo so hit me up if you want :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic after 5 years out of fandom, and I honestly didn't expect to be writing fic in 2019 in my first year of university, but here we are.
> 
> Enjoy!

‘Plagg, claws out!’

Chat Noir ran out from the empty classroom he had found to hide in while he transformed just in time to see Ladybug swing out of the way of a blast from the Silencer, a tall girl completely grey, black and white like from a silent movie, holding what looked like a huge TV remote, and wearing headphones, probably some poor girl terrorized by Chloe from another class who Adrien hadn’t met before.

'I’m coming Milady!’ he yelled, jumping from the first floor into the fight, using his baton to knock Silencer off her feet and into the wall furthest from Ladybug.

'Thanks Chat!’ came the slightly winded sounding reply.

Meanwhile, Silencer was getting back up but had seemingly turned her attention elsewhere; Chat looked in the direction that Silencer was heading…

'Chloe Bourgeois, you’re never going to tell anyone else to shut up ever again!’ shrieked Silencer, laughing hysterically.

'Ladybug! Help!’ Chloe yelled demandingly, backing further into the corner.

'Chat, distract Silencer!’ called Ladybug, swinging into action, and dragging Chloe out of the way of Silencer. Chat grinned, leaping onto Silencer’s back.

'Chat got your tongue?’ he asked, he could see Ladybug scowling even from across the room, he’d thought it had been perfect.

'Chat! the akuma! The headphones!’

Ladybug stuck her head out from behind a pillar where she was hiding with Chloe, and started to run in their direction, yo-yo out and ready to de-evilise the akuma when Chat released it. Chat Noir, holding on desperately while Silencer tried to shake him off, found the headphones.

'Cataclysm!’ he yelled, reaching his hand out for the headphones.

Just as he had them within reach, Silencer swung her arm out and blasted Ladybug, who went flying backwards. Chat caught the headphones and destroyed them, releasing the akuma into the air, before jumping off Silencer who began to transform back and careening towards Ladybug. Ladybug stood up from her fall, leaning against the wall she’d hit and caught the akuma in her yo-yo, before slumping over again.

'Ladybug! Are you okay? Milady?!’ Chat leant over her, 'Please Milady, say something!’

Ladybug blinked slowly, dizzy but okay, she opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. Her eyes widened as she looked at Chat, horrified.

'Oh no,’ Chat met her gaze, 'I’m sorry Milady, I should’ve been faster.’

Suddenly Ladybug grabbed his hand and waved it in front of his face. His ring was flashing, he only had a few minutes before he transformed back.

'Uh, right, uh. I can’t just leave you here, you can’t speak, and you can’t transform, and the miraculous ladybugs haven’t reset everything yet, uhhh…’

Chat stood up, pacing back and forth a bit.

‘Chat Noir, some of us still can’t speak.’ Someone said from behind him, sounding worried.

‘Don’t worry, Ladybug will have it all back to normal in no time,’ He said confidently, hoping he was right, ‘Look after your friend over there, will you? We have to dash!’

Chat turned back to Ladybug and put his hand out for Ladybug to take.

'You’re going to have to come with me Milady.’ He said quietly. Ladybug looked reluctant before realising they didn’t have any other plan, so she took Chat Noir’s hand and let him pull her to her feet and hold her to his chest as he used his baton to elevate them to the roof before running across a few rooftops with her and dropping down into an alley where they wouldn’t be seen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir and Ladybug have just made it out of school, still without a clear plan as to how to fix everything, and it doesn't look great when Ladybug loses another sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seeing how excited some of you were about Chapter 1, I speedily wrote up Chapter 2.  
> I aim to please - however I am writing without an editor, so if there are spelling mistakes please point them out to me so I can correct them!

Adrien transformed just as his feet hit the ground, he felt Ladybug's shoulders tense where she was still pulled tight to him. Looking down briefly he saw that Ladybug has closed her eyes tightly so that she wouldn't see, which was good, he thought, but it wasn't going to make communicating any easier.

Ladybug was thinking the same thing. Now Chat would have to keep her within arm’s reach at all times, and she couldn't even see where she was going - she was entirely dependent on Chat Noir to sort this out. As if he'd read her mind, Adrien released his grip on Ladybug a bit and leant down to whisper to her.

'Keep your eyes closed Milady, but don't worry. I'll keep you safe, and I'm going to figure this out.'

Ladybug breathed a sigh of relief, she trusted Chat Noir, he would sort it out and then she would be able to use the miraculous ladybugs to set everything back. She hoped silently to herself that everyone was okay, she hadn’t been able to talk to the poor girl Hawkmoth had akumatised, hopefully someone had told Chloe it had been her fault again... Suddenly she felt Chat moving, leading her with him. She didn’t have a choice but to follow, holding onto his hand and trying to stay close to him. He wasn’t moving very fast, but he clearly didn’t want to stay where they were.

Adrien meanwhile was leading Ladybug away from the site of their battle with Silencer, where people were beginning to gather in the streets, questioning why Ladybug hadn’t reset everything and why some people still couldn’t speak. Once they had gone far enough, ducking in and out of alleys to avoid notice, Adrien lead Ladybug down a side street and into a small alcove in a building where he was sure no-one could see them.

‘Oh, sorry Ladybug, I should’ve said where we were going,’ Adrien said, sounding guilty as he noticed the confused, slightly output look on Ladybug’s face, ‘People were starting to turn up near the school, so I wanted to get away in case anyone saw us and starting asking questions, but no-one can see us here.’

Ladybug nodded and relaxed her expression.  Feeling the cold wall was close behind her, she leant forward slightly, leaning into Adrien. She was tired. Not being able to see or talk made her tired and being on high alert but without sight made her tired, she really couldn’t do anything useful now, she had to wait for Chat to come up with something, so she decided to rest while she could.

Now pinned between Ladybug and the wall of the alcove behind him, still holding onto Ladybug’s hand, Adrien scanning around for anything that might help and drawing a blank; the silence in the air heavy between them.

'We need to find you something to communicate with, I don't usually make the plans, I don't really know how to do this without you.' He admitted, slightly sheepishly. He felt it was true, he needed Ladybug, Ladybug didn’t really need him, as shown by the number of times he was blasted by the akumatised victim, or simply in the wrong place and Ladybug still succeeded. Adrien frowned and let his head drop.

Ladybug tugged on his wrist and made a gesture in the air with her other hand. Furrowing his brows, Adrien started to shrug before remembering she couldn't see and simultaneously realising what she meant.

'What- oh pen and paper, of course,' he patted down his pockets, but found nothing, his school bag was still at school, who were probably wondering where he was, 'No luck Milady, I don't have anything on me and the only place I can think of would be to go home. I can't think of an alternative and we really need to get out of here before someone finds us, people can't know you can't talk.'

Ladybug looked distinctly worried and her grip on Adrien's wrist had tightened. She thought through it herself but couldn't come up with a better plan, or even a way to articulate one if she had managed. At last she nodded and lessened her grip on his wrist.

'Okay, I'm not going to do anything without telling you, okay, so please don't hit me,' Adrien said, only half joking, Ladybug raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly, which he took as agreement, 'I'm going transform back now, so we can get to mine quickly and you can open your eyes, when we get near you can close your eyes again and I'll hold onto you to get us in. I'll get you a pen and paper and cover you with something, so you don't see anything. We'll make a plan and we'll have this sorted in no time.'

Ladybug nodded, reassured that Chat sounded like he'd thought this through.

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief and took a step away from Ladybug, still holding onto her hand, this wasn't going to be so difficult after all.

'Plagg, claws out!'

Once transformed, Chat stepped back towards Ladybug, so they were mere centimetres away from each other.

'You can open your eyes now Milady.'

Blinking, Ladybug looked Chat up and down, giving him a knowing smile.

'I know, I'm a sight for sore eyes, aren't I Bugaboo!' Chat teased gently, Ladybug rolled her eyes and leapt back up to the roof, not waiting for another one of Chat's remarks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a less than ideal means of communication, and two heroes technically working overtime, this situation is really starting to get to Ladybug and Chat Noir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly longer chapter than usual, I hope you enjoy!

Chat joined Ladybug on the roof and pointed in the general direction of his house.

'I'll tell you when we're close.'

Ladybug nodded and sprinted off in that direction; Chat Noir paused momentarily, wondering if this was the best idea he could've come up with, before following after her, leaping across the rooftops of Paris, above the heads of the population. Catching up to Ladybug, Chat opened his mouth to tell Ladybug that they could stop here, before nearly running right past her. She'd stopped exactly where Chat had intended, but of her own accord.

'Milady?' Chat queried, raising an eyebrow, 'Are you okay?'

Ladybug looked distracted for a moment before looking Chat right in the eye and sitting down where she was.

_'I have a better idea Kitty,_ ' Ladybug thought, _'Please try to understand!'_

Chat rubbed his eyes and stared at Ladybug, he looked back in the direction of his house, and then back to Ladybug who remained seated.

'What are you doing?'

Ladybug pointed at herself with exaggerated motions and then pointed at the floor.

'Now is not the time for charades Bugaboo!' sighed Chat Noir, but Ladybug simply repeated the actions, 'Okay, fine, let's see.... You...stay here.'

Ladybug nodded enthusiastically, grinning at Chat, who still looked confused.

_'Who's a clever Kitty,_ ' Ladybug thought, _'Now get this one...'_

She pointed at Chat and then pointed behind him before bringing both her hands towards herself and pointing at herself again. Chat squinted for a moment before something occurred to him.

'OH! I'll go and bring the pen here to you. Right, of course, that makes a lot more sense.'

_'It also gives me some time to work out a plan.'_ Ladybug thought.

'Don't go anywhere Milady, I'll be right back!' Chat called, already turning and running off in the direction of his house.

Leaping in through his window and landing quietly on the floor, Adrien transformed out of his suit.

'Now would be an excellent time for some cheese you know.' said Plagg, but Adrien was a step ahead of him, already handing him a piece of camembert - partially in the hope that it would keep him quiet for a few moments while he found what he was looking for. Hoping Ladybug would be okay for the few moments that it took Plagg to finish up, Adrien rummaged through the drawers in his desk until he found a small notebook and a black fountain pen, he hoped that would do since taking too long could be dangerous and he wanted to get back to Ladybug as fast as possible.

'Are you done Plagg?'

The kwami through the last piece of cheese into the air and caught in it his mouth.

'Okay, Plagg, claws out!'

Transformed again, Chat grabbed the pen and notebook and threw himself out of the window and across the street to the next building and made for Ladybug as fast as he could.  Panting by the time he arrived, he was relieved to find Ladybug sitting exactly where he'd left her. Quietly padding over to her, he noticed that she had her eyes closed.

'Milady, I'm back.' she said quietly, so as not to make her jump.

Her eyes flew open just as Chat sat down next to her, arm outstretched to hand her the pen and notebook he'd picked up.

_'Thank you, Kitty.'_ she thought, choosing instead to lean over and give him a quick hug, since she couldn't thank him otherwise. Chat felt his cheeks flush pink.

'You're welcome Milady.' he said quietly, but Ladybug had already pulled away and was feverishly writing in the notebook. When she was done, she held it up for Chat Noir to read where, in her neat curvy handwriting, she had written: Master Fu.

'Okay, I see where you're going, but we can't go like this. Someone might see us and catch on.'

Ladybug bit her lip. She hadn't thought of that. Suddenly she was writing again. This time the notebook said: You go, out of the suit, and bring him back here.

Ladybug looked into Chat's eyes, looking for agreement as Chat thought about it.

'That should work. But I've not been to Master Fu's. I don't know where to find him.'

Ladybug jotted down an address and tore it out of the notebook, placing it into Chat Noir's palm, leaving her hand there in his as she looked back to him, waiting for an answer.  Chat's palm tingled where Ladybug had her hand. He nodded decisively. He'd make it work, it was a Ladybug plan. Of course, it would work. He stood up again and took a few steps towards the edge of the building before turning back to Ladybug.

'Don't miss me too much Bugaboo.' He grinned, stepping backwards off the building and using his baton to swing himself over the following rooftops.

Ladybug watched as his disappeared behind buildings and out of sight. When she couldn't see him anymore, she sighed silently and looked back at the notebook, tapping the end of the pen against the spine. She decided to fill her time by taking the pen apart and putting it back together again and was just about to unscrew the body of the pen when a tiny shiny butterfly logo caught her eye.

 

Meanwhile, Chat Noir had reached Master Fu's building and detransformed. Hiding Plagg in his shirt, he went in and found Master Fu's apartment and knocked. There was a sound of shuffling and the smell of incense burning and then the door opened.  Master Fu looked quite surprised to see Adrien standing there, but quickly let him in and closed the door.

'Adrien, what are you doing here? Where's Ladybug?'

'Ladybug got hit by Silencer and now she can't speak, she de-evilised the akuma but can't call for a lucky charm or call on the miraculous ladybugs to set everything back to normal, and she can't transform back either. She's on a roof a little way away, she sent me to find you. I- we don’t know what to do.' he explained quickly.

Fu nodded before speaking up.

'Go back to Ladybug, you must protect her until we sort this out. Bring her to the roof of the building across from here. I will meet you there,' Adrien must have looked very very worried because Fu paused before adding, 'Do not worry Adrien, you are doing everything right.'

Adrien nodded, mixed emotions of guilt and worry temporarily calmed, and showed himself out. He made his way up to the roof and transformed again, sprinting back to Ladybug the same way he'd come.

 

Ladybug had been doing her best to quash the feeling in her stomach that the butterfly logo had any meaning.

_'Maybe Chat Noir just likes butterflies, maybe it was a gift, maybe it’s not even his pen,'_ she thought, burying her head in her knees, _'maybe it's not even a butterfly, maybe it’s just some fancy geometric design.'_

She looked at it again, squinting.

_'Nope, unmistakably a butterfly.'_

She doesn’t have time to give it much more thought when Chat Noir lands a few feet away from her, without Master Fu, and is immediately talking.

'Okay Milady, Master Fu says I need to bring you closer to him, and he'll meet us there.'

Ladybug is on her feet in seconds and already heading towards Fu's. When they reach the right rooftop, Chat slows to a stop, Ladybug taking his queue that this is where Fu told him to wait. Looking around for Fu for a moment before taking a seat on the edge of the building, Ladybug looked defeated; her shoulders leant in and her head was low. Chat felt terrible for her. After a moment’s hesitation, Chat sat down next to her.

'Are you okay Ladybug?' he asked softly.

Ladybug nodded and then shook her head, reaching for the notebook where she'd set it down next to her. She scribbled: I should've been more careful not to get hit. This is my fau

She doesn't get to finish the word; Chat Noir knows what she's going to write.

'It's not your fault Ladybug, I wasn't fast enough, I didn't protect you. It's my fault and I'm sorry.'

Ladybug shook her head, looking down to the ground.

Chat sighed, 'It'll be okay, we're going to fix this.' he murmured, mostly to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Master Fu has a plan, but our heroes are shocked to hear what it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a shorter than I thought it would be, but I think the last few chapters should be a bit longer. Enjoy!

When Master Fu arrived on the scene, Ladybug and Chat Noir were leaning against each other, both looking into space, each absorbed in their own thoughts. He smiled sadly for a moment before clearly his throat quietly to get their attention.

'Ladybug. Chat Noir.'

Chat gently disentangled himself from Ladybug and stood up, holding out his hand for Ladybug to stand as well. She took his hand, notebook and pen grasped tightly in her other.

'Chat Noir tells me you've lost your voice Ladybug.' Master Fu said.

Ladybug nodded, still holding Chat Noir's hand.

'The answer is clear. Remove your Miraculous and give it to Chat Noir, then he can use the miraculous ladybugs to return things to normal.'

Ladybug's jaw dropped and she let go of Chat's hand, immediately uncapping the pen and scratching something down on the notebook. Chat in the meantime was struck speechless himself.

Ladybug finished writing and held her arm out for Fu to read her note: Isn't there another way?

Master Fu shook his head and Ladybug's head drops. Reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder, Chat smiled reassuringly to her.

'It'll be okay Bugaboo, I'll take care of your miraculous and I'll give it back as soon as you're talking again!'

Ladybug bit her lip, searching Chat's eyes quickly before losing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

'I can't stay like this forever, we still have to put Paris back to rights, and I trust Chat Noir. I can do this.'

She nodded and flipped open the notebook again, quickly scribbling something down: We should both turn around, so we can't see each other.

She held it up for Chat Noir to see and he nodded, squeezing her shoulder gently before walking a few metres away and turning around.

'Whenever you're ready Milady' he said cheerily.

'Thank you Kitty' she thought, turning so she couldn't see him. She slowly reached up to her earrings, took a deep breath and took them out one by one, immediately beginning to transform back for the first time in hours. When finally it was Marinette standing there, she held her closed hand out for Master Fu to retrieve the miraculous. He took it gently from her hand and walked over to Chat Noir.

'Plagg, claws in.'

Adrien pocketed his ring and took the earrings from Master Fu, who walked back to where he'd been standing in between them.

It was only in this exact moment that Adrien recognised the large flaw in this plan. He didn't have his ears pierced. He turned to ask Master Fu what he should do and had just opened his mouth when he caught sight, from the corner of his eye, of Ladybug, or rather of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He spun back round immediately, cursing himself out silently for breaking his promise to Ladybug, even if it had been an accident. His beloved Ladybug was his everyday Ladybug, he couldn't believe he'd been so stupid as not to see it before. His heart sank suddenly, he'd betrayed her trust. His elation from finding out disappeared instantly and his stomach felt sick with guilt. 

'I'm so sorry Milady.' he mouthed.

All of this happened unbeknownst to Marinette. Meanwhile, Adrien was spiralling into a panic and would have continued to panic if Tikki hadn't chosen this moment to address his initial problem.

'Hey! Wear them as cufflinks!' she squeaked, smiling brightly.

Marinette giggled silently behind him and even Master Fu gave a small chuckle. Adrien nodded and took a deep breath, rolling his sleeves down and pushing the earrings through the material.

'Okay. Tikki, spots on!'

Adrien's Ladybug suit was a little different to Ladybug's suit; there were black panels down the back, and he had black boots and gloves, the miraculous acting as a button on each of the gloves, but otherwise it was the same. He felt quite uncomfortable for a moment before shaking his arms and taking a breath.

‘Lucky charm!’ he calls, wondering how his Ladybug felt about hearing him say it.

Marinette was actually wondering what Chat looked like as Ladybug. She could take a peak, surely, his back was to her, it was safe, right? She turned around just long enough to see the outfit and watch a ladybug baton fall from the sky, and Chat Noir, or Ladybug, or …. Well, whatever this combination would be called, catch it. She turned around again quickly, already pondering why the lucky charm would be Chat Noir’s baton.

Master Fu also saw the baton and smiled to himself, these two really were a perfect match for each other.

Adrien caught the baton, grinning to himself, he was still Chat Noir, even dressed as Ladybug.

‘Miraculous Ladybug!’ he yelled, swinging the baton into the air.

The ladybugs swirled around, zipping across the sky, finding everyone who still couldn’t speak and returning their voice. The ladybugs circled Marinette and disappeared.

While the rest of Paris gasped and yelled and shouted in relief, Marinette and Adrien stayed quiet and still. There was something unspoken hanging in the air and neither was about to address it.

‘Spots off.’ Adrien whispered.

‘Thank you, Kitty.’ Marinette murmured, voice barely audible, a sudden well of emotion in her throat causing tears to line her eyes and her lip to tremble.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Master Fu's plan works, but has this just been too much for Marinette? Can Chat Noir claw her back from the edge? Are things starting to add up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh this chapter was fun to write.

Adrien, with his eyes half closed and trained on the ground, turned around slightly to hand the earrings back to Master Fu before turning around again. The earrings were then passed into Marinette's hands and Master Fu took his leave. Marinette took the miraculous very gently, holding them in her palm for a moment before squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears from falling.

'What if I'm not the right person for this, look what happened today...' she murmured, her shoulders shaking ever so slightly.

Adrien's heart broke for Marinette; he wanted to run over to her and hold her to his chest and reassure her that everything was okay and that she was the best Ladybug, but she hadn't transformed back yet and if Adrien didn't say something quickly, there was a chance she'd decide not to. He took a few paces towards her, eyes still focused on the ground. When he was close enough to see Marinette's shadow, he turned around again.

'Milady... You're the only person for this, Paris needs you as Ladybug...' he paused, finishing quietly, 'I need you.'

There was ambient silence.

'Thank you, Chat Noir,' Marinette said at last, putting the earrings back in.

'You're welcome Milady.' Adrien said, breathing a sigh of relief at Marinette's tone, she sounded less upset, and that was something at least.

'Tikki, spots on!'

Taking his ring out of his pocket and returning it to his finger, Adrien transformed as well, finally turning around to look at Ladybug, who turned around as soon as she was sure Chat Noir had transformed.

'Hey Bugaboo.' Chat said quietly, smiling at her.

Ladybug didn't give him a response, instead throwing herself into his arms, burying her face in his neck in a tight hug, silent but for a few shaky breaths. Chat Noir took a second before pulling his arms tight around Ladybug, running his hand up and down her back reassuringly.

'Hey, I wasn't that bad as Ladybug, was I?' asked Chat, half playfully, an attempt to cheer Ladybug up.

Ladybug shook her head against his shoulder before straightening up and pulling away. Chat held onto her shoulders from an arm’s length away.

'I couldn't have done it without you Ladybug, it was your plan you know.'

Ladybug nodded, looking a bit brighter. It was starting to get dark now, and Marinette thought about her parents, probably worried about her; she had disappeared from school and now it was getting dark.

'I have to go. Thanks Chat,' she leant in and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before stepping backwards again and swung her yo-yo out, leaping off the rooftop, 'Bug out!'

Chat smiled as he watched her disappear across the rooftops of Paris until she was out of sight, then he turned and meandered his way home, praying that Nathalie had covered for him so as not to worry his father, but far more occupied by what to do about Ladybug, the girl he loves, and Marinette, his everyday Ladybug, being the same person.

Leaping in through his bedroom window and transforming, he doesn't even have time to change out of his clothes before he's asleep, having passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

 

Marinette lands on the street next to the bakery and detransforms before rushing inside to look for her parents. She got blindsided by a hug from her dad and was immediately swarmed by questions.

‘Where were you? We were so worried! The school called and said they couldn’t find you! Where have you been!?’

Marinette waited for them to stop.

‘The Silencer got me, then I got lost and couldn’t ask for help, I only got back after I got my voice back.’ She explained, hoping they would buy it.

Tom looked unsure but before he could question it further, Sabine nodded and gave her daughter a hug.

‘I’m just glad you’re safe,’ she picked a bag up off the table, ‘Alya brought this back from school for you – she waited until school closed to see if you would come back, and then she brought it here for you.’

Marinette wanted the ground to swallow her, she’d let Alya wait, worried, all that time. She had to call her.

‘Thank you, I think I’m going to go call Alya now actually, then I’m going to go to bed, I’m exhausted. Night!’ She kissed her parent’s goodnight and ran upstairs, pulling her phone out of her bag while still on the stairs and was already dialling Alya when she fell on her bed.

She didn’t even get a word in edgeways when Alya picked up the phone and immediately yelled down the phone.

‘WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? I’ve been worried sick!’

‘I’m so sorry Alya,’ Marinette groaned, ‘so so so sorry, please forgive me?’

‘Of course I forgive you, I was worried! Where were you? Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine, I got caught by Silencer, that’s all.’

There was quiet on the other end of the line; Marinette crossed her fingers, hoping Alya believed her.

‘Well... I’m just glad you’re okay, do you know if Adrien’s okay?’

‘Adrien?’ Marinette asked.

‘Yeah, he disappeared the same time as you, no-one’s seen him since. Nino and I took his bag to his earlier as well.’

Marinette looked over to where she’d dropped her handbag.

‘Um, I’m sure he’s fine – Ladybug set everything back, right? Alya, I’m really tired,’ she faked a yawn, ‘I’ll see you at school tomorrow!’

‘Uh, okay, see you tomorrow Marinette!’

Marinette ended the call and jumped off her head, grabbing her handbag and fishing out the notebook and pen Chat Noir had given her. She dropped the notebook on the bed and studied the pen again. The tiny black butterfly was the logo of Adrien’s father, Gabriel Agreste’s brand, Gabriel.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien spends a very tense day at school and is blindsided by an epiphany that even a blind man could've seen coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was blindsided by uni work (and a weekend at my boyfriends) for the last few days, hence the delay in posting this (much longer than usual) chapter. I hope you enjoy it, this story is nearly at an end, just in time for the actual Silencer episode to be realised in only a few days!  
> Enjoy!

When Adrien woke up the next morning, he wished he hadn't. He need more time to figure out how he was going to tell Marinette that he accidentally betrayed her trust and knows she's Ladybug; he can't tell her at school that's for sure, so at least he has school time to work on it.

He drags himself out of bed and through the shower and into clothes. He crept downstairs to have breakfast, hoping to avoid his father. No such luck unfortunately as, for once, Gabriel Agreste was sat at the table, waiting for his son.

'Where were you?' he demanded as Adrien entered the room.

'I was helping some friends find their family members who had been silenced.' Adrien concocted the lie quickly and hoped his father wouldn't test it.

'Which friends, because two of them came by to hand you your bag which you left at school.' Gabriel asked, watching his son sit down across from him, down the long dining table.

'Alix and Nathaniel. You haven't met them,' Adrien said before finishing under his breath, 'because you never ask me about my friends.'

Gabriel thought this over before deciding that it made sense, and he and Adrien were making progress recently, he wasn't going to push it, this time.

'I will see you after school.' Gabriel said, standing and leaving Adrien to finish his breakfast very quickly, desperate to get out of the house.

 

Marinette, as usual, woke up late for school, only just having time to take a few bites of breakfast and run out the door; the Agreste pen left capped on her desk.

 

When Adrien got out of the car and was met by a very chatty Nino, who, after pouncing on him with a relieved hug, immediately leapt in to asking if he was alright and where on Earth he had disappeared to yesterday, Adrien was already deep in thought about what to say to Marinette when he inevitably had to confront her about what he knew. He wondered for a brief moment if he could just avoid telling her forever, but the guilty feeling coiling in the pit of his stomach told him he probably wouldn’t be able to. They were already grabbing their books when Adrien finally pulled himself back to Earth, just in time to catch one of Marinette’s books as it flew out of her hands and towards his chest.

‘Ooof, sorry!’ Marinette called, having landed on the floor after her tumble.

She stood up and brushed herself off a bit before reaching out to take her book back from Adrien.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked, taking her book for his hand and tucking it back into her bag where it had intended to go, before she’d tripped on her own feet.

‘Uh,’ Adrien nodded, not looking her in the eye, ‘Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry about it Marinette.’

‘Phew, good, I um, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt, especially by my clumsiness.’ She smiled, relieved.

Adrien moved out of her way to let her pass, where she joined Alya in the corridor before they walked away, into class. Nino raised an eyebrow at Adrien, who shook his head slightly as if to clear his mind before returning the look to Nino.

‘What?’

‘I don’t know dude, you tell me.’ Nino said, keeping an eye on Adrien, before turning to walk to class, ‘You seem a little off is all.’

Adrien took a deep breath, he just had to hold it together till the end of the day, then he would go see Ladybug, uh, Marinette, and get it all sorted out, whatever that would mean. He followed Nino into the hallway and into class.

 

Lucky for Adrien, who was about as focused as broken microscope, Hawkmoth didn’t akumatise anyone that day, not that it made the day any less exciting. To Adrien it seemed that he couldn’t move without seeing Marinette, which only derailed his concentration further. He tried to brush it off, but she was always in the back of his mind, or right behind him in class. Being this close to her with the knowledge that Marinette was his Ladybug, but also that he’d accidentally betrayed her and that he was going to have to tell her caused such a stir of emotions in Adrien, that he decided it was best to keep quiet for the day and hope no-one noticed him. Unfortunately, this proved rather more difficult that he had hoped. Nino gave him numerous worried glances during class, Chloe got mad at him when he didn’t answer her question, Max was giving him quizzical looks and Rose had offered him a hug to make him feel better. On the bright side, it seemed like Marinette hadn’t noticed, and he could brush off everyone else, reassuring them that he was fine. Then they broke for lunch.

Alya stood in front of Marinette as the latter put her books in her locker.

‘Ask him.’

Marinette shook her head, still focusing intently on her locker.

‘Why not?’

‘Because…’

‘Exactly, go make sure he’s okay Marinette, you’re good at that.’

Marinette straightened up and finally shut her locker. She’d been searching for the Agreste pen but found it was not in her bag like she’d thought. She had so many questions. She’d never seen one before except on the person of Gabriel Agreste – so why did Chat Noir have one, particularly if he had in fact gone back to his house to get the notebook and pen. She couldn’t ask Alya, she was just going to have to ask Chat Noir himself, she really hoped he hadn’t stolen it, but if he hadn’t what other answer was there? Maybe he was close to the Agreste family? In which case, maybe Adrien knew…

‘Okay, fine, I’ll see if he’s okay, but if I make a fool of myself, I’m blaming you.’

Alya raised an eyebrow and nodded. Marinette nodded decisively back before leaving the locker room to find Adrien. Luckily, with hair that gorgeously golden blonde, which Marinette knew so well, he was not difficult to find and Marinette walked over to him, sitting on the bench on his phone.

‘Hey Adrien, I uh, I was wondering if you were okay?’

Adrien looked up and blanched somewhat.

‘Can I sit down?’

He nodded, keeping his mouth shut in case he said something unplanned or not thought through enough, especially in school. They sat in silence for a bit, both looking forward and distinctly not at each other. Then Marinette turned to look at him, recalling a while back when Adrien had asked her for advice about a girl.

‘Is this about that girl you asked me about before?’ she asked, trying very hard to keep any hint of sadness or jealousy out of her voice.

Adrien sat bolt upright, looking at Marinette in shock. Then grasping on the easy way out of this conversation, he nodded enthusiastically.

‘Yeah, yes! Its, uh, all about a girl, so distracting you know, but I'm fine, really, thanks Marinette.'

Marinette looked away, feeling her heart sink.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ she asked quietly.

Adrien thought about it for a second, Marinette had no idea he was Chat Noir, maybe if he told her a little of it, in the guise of something else, she would tell him what to say to her later! Unfortunately, he heard his own voice say no before he had even realised it.

Marinette nodded and stood up.

‘I’m here if you ever want to talk.’ She smiled before turning and walking back to Alya to bemoan that Adrien was in love with someone else.

Adrien waited just long enough for Marinette to have her back turned before dropping his head into his hands and cursing himself out for being so dumb, so utterly oblivious. One hundred and ten thoughts rushed his head all at once.

It wasn’t that Marinette was particularly good at hiding her crush on Adrien, and more that Adrien had been completely, utterly, stupidly oblivious, until the exact moment everything added up.

_‘How on Earth could I not have noticed? She is my everyday Ladybug and my actual Ladybug; how did I not see this before. How have I been saying she’d a friend for so long? Oh no, she must be so- I’m such an idiot. I’m really going to have to fix this – oh my god, I just told her I was distracted by a girl, and she doesn’t know its her, she- oh dear god. I am so sorry Marinette!’_

He thought through Marinette and Ladybug’s actions, their personalities and attitudes. He wanted to kick himself for not seeing it before.

_‘I’m in love with her. All of her,’_ He thought, words coming slowly, like a jigsaw puzzle being put together in slow motion, _‘and she’d going to absolutely flip when she finds out who Chat Noir is…’_

His breath caught in his throat.

_‘She turns me down as Chat Noir all the time. I’m more myself as Chat… what if she doesn’t like me when she finds out…’_ he groaned quietly into his palms, silently grateful that people had stopped asking what was wrong; then another realisation struck him, _‘I turned Marinette down as Chat… oh god this is going to be difficult.’_

He closed his eyes and held breathed for a few moments before letting it out and sitting up. He would go and see Marinette this evening, as Chat Noir, and tell her what happened, and he would just have to hope she didn’t hate him afterwards. But first he had to get through the rest of the school day.

The afternoon went by quietly, as did fencing and Chinese, bringing Adrien ever closer to Marinette. First however was a typically silent and solitary dinner, which gave him plenty of time to think about what exactly he was going to say to Marinette when he saw her.

He debated just blurting it out and waiting for her response, then wondered if maybe he could write her something rather than have to say it, before questioning whether it would be easier to say with his eyes closed so he didn’t have to see they hurt and betrayal on her face, or the disgust or anger… He couldn’t predict what her reaction would be, so finishing up his food, he decided he was just going to have to wing it, as thinking on it was only tying him into knots. He left the table, calling into the seemingly empty house that he was going upstairs to bed, assuming that somewhere, Nathalie or his father was listening. He walked up the stairs and into his room, closing the door behind him. He remembered, as he slumped onto his bed, that his father had said he would see him after school, but Gabriel was often too busy for his son, and Adrien didn’t think twice about his father not seeing him this afternoon – it had seemed rather unusual anyway. He grabbed the clock off his bedside table and checked the time. 9:34pm seemed late enough that Marinette would be alone.

He pulled himself up from the bed and straightened himself up.

‘Is this a good idea?’ a quiet voice from inside his white shirt asked.

Adrien ignored Plagg’s question.

‘Plagg, claws out!’ he called, transforming into Chat Noir before taking a running leap out of his open window and into the evening air of Paris, skimming over the rooftops until he reached Marinette’s. He took a couple of deep breaths and shook himself, trying to clear his head, then he swung down from her roof onto the balcony and knocked on the little door to get her attention.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette isn't taking the revelation of Adrien's other girl too well. Are Adrien's fears of Marinette being disgusted, hurt and betrayed by him founded?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we have come to the end of our little story!   
> There may yet be an epilogue, but if there is it will be short.   
> I hope you have enjoyed it, please let me know if you have, or even if you haven't! 
> 
> You can find me at kittynoirandladybugaboo on tumblr :)

Defeated by the heart-breaking revelation from Adrien, Marinette walked home from school in a haze of sadness. She had bemoaned the situation to Alya after her talk with Adrien and had been getting gradually closer to tears the longer she had to sit behind him. When classes had ended, she’d practically run out of class to avoid Alya’s attempts to make her feel better, or Adrien on the whole. She decided to avoid her parents for the time being and instead went straight up to her room, falling back onto her bed and burying her face in a pillow. She stayed there for a while, going from biting down on her lips and tightly closing her eyes to stop the tears and sobbing quietly and back again several times.

After a while, when her eyes were sore, she stood up and went over to her desk, sat down, crossed her arms and put her head down. Tikki looked worried but Marinette turned to face the other way, silently telling Tikki that she was not in the mood to talk right now.

The Agreste pen fell in her line of sight and she absent-mindedly flicked it gently with her finger so that it spun a few times before becoming still again.

_‘I hope whoever she is, she’s nice…’_ Marinette thought, jealousy now subsided through her tears. She was still heartbroken, but jealousy wasn’t really in her nature, and she respected Adrien too much to maliciously question his choices.

She closed her eyes for a bit and drifted off to sleep.

 

‘Marinette!’

Marinette was startled awake and spun round quickly, just in time to see her mother appear at the top of the stairs.

‘Marinette, dinner’s ready.’

Marinette nodded sleepily, yawning before she stood up and followed her mother downstairs.

Sabine and Tom exchanged glances throughout dinner; Marinette was being unusually quiet. Finally, Tom took a deep breath and asked his sad looking daughter if she was okay; Marinette looked up from her plate.

‘Yeah. No, I’m okay. Just, just a long day at school is all.’ She said, putting on a smile, hoping her parents would be reassured.

Tom and Sabine exchanged another look and this time, Sabine spoke.

‘Are you sure Marinette?’

Marinette nodded.

‘Mhm. Just very tired is all, in fact, I think I’m going to go to bed now actually,’ she said standing up, ‘thank you for dinner, goodnight!’

She kissed her parents and disappeared upstairs, leaving Tom and Sabine to exchange another worried glance before returning to their as yet unfinished food in silence.

Once upstairs, Marinette threw herself into her chair, grabbed the Agreste pen and started sketching, or rather, she intended to start sketching and ended up scribbling in frustration. In the end she threw the pen across the room before flinching when it hit the wall harder than she’d expected. She stood up to pick it up, feeling rather foolish for letting her emotions get the better of her, even in that small way. As she bent down to pick it up, she jumped at an unexpected knock on the door to the balcony.

She looked up but couldn’t see that there was anyone up there. She picked up the pen and walked back to put it on her desk and the knock came again. This time she climbed up the ladder and out onto the balcony, surprised to find Chat Noir sitting on her railing, with his back to her, swinging his feet. She walked over to join him at the railing, leaning on it and looking up at him. He looked nervous, and sad.

‘Chat? What are you doing here?’

Chat scratched the back of his head with his hand and opened his mouth to speak before closing it again. With Marinette standing so close, and with so much world-changing news to tell her, Chat found his words getting stuck in his throat.

‘Are you okay?’ Marinette asked, worried now at Chat’s uncharacteristic quietness.

‘Uh, Marinette, I have something to tell you.’

‘Oh, uh okay, what is it?’

Chat swung his legs over the railing and hopped down. He stood in front of Marinette, close enough to hear her breathing. He looked up and met her gaze, trying hard to look as gentle and genuine as he could.

‘I know who you are Milady.’ He whispered.

Marinette’s jaw dropped, shocked into silence; she sat down abruptly, mind running with thoughts, none making sense. Hearing Chat address her as Milady felt like someone had pulled the air out of her lungs. Chat waited a second before sitting next to her, shoulders touching.

Marinette stared at her feet.

‘How?’ she breathed, barely audibly.

‘Yesterday, when I had to use your miraculous, I, um, I turned around to ask Master Fu and I saw your jacket and I recognised you, Marinette I’m so sorry.’ Chat stared at his feet too, hands on his knees, waiting for the crushing weight of Marinette’s disappointment and hurt.

‘Earrings…’ Marinette whispers, ‘You don’t have your ears pierced…’ Her voice was warm and kind, she didn’t sound angry, Chat breathed a silent sigh of relief.

‘Yeah, uh, no, no earrings for me.’

Marinette put her hand on Chat’s and gave it a gentle squeeze.

‘It’s okay Kitty, we’ll figure it out.’ She leant her head against his shoulder, thinking.

Chat opened and closed his mouth a few times, knowing he had more to say, but it was so peaceful just to have Marinette leaning on him; he knew he couldn’t stay quiet for ever though.

‘I’m still in love with you, you know Mila- Marinette-’ Marinette lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him, but he kept his eyes on the ground in front of him, ‘I know I said I wasn’t that time but that was before I knew you and Ladybug were the same person and today, I just, it clicked to me, you know, everything that I love about Ladybug, they’re the same characteristics I admire in you as a friend. I’m going to keep hoping that you’ll love me like I love you, but your friendship both as Ladybug and as Marinette is important to me so I won’t push it on you.’

Adrien waited with baited-breath for Marinette’s answer.

‘I’m not like Ladybug when I’m Marinette though.’ Marinette said quietly, her eyes searching his expression for any hint of this being a joke.

‘I’m not like Chat usually either Milady,’ Chat said, finally looking up, ‘I like being Chat because I can be more free than I actually am and I get to be close to you, but outside of the costume, I, I don’t get any of that and I’m not as confident either.’ _‘I’ll prove it…’_ he thought.

‘Plagg, claws in.’ He said quietly.

Then Adrien was the one sitting next to Marinette instead of Chat Noir.

Marinette blinked several times, still holding Adrien’s hand on his knee.

‘Adrien…’ the name barely made a sound as it crossed her lips.

He rubbed the back of his hair again with his free hand.

‘Uh yeah, sorry if it’s not what you were expecting?’

Marinette just stared.

‘Uh, Marinette, are you okay?’

She nodded, lost for words; her mind was still running in circles trying to put everything together, but it was extremely difficult with Adrien’s beautiful eyes so close and his hand still interlocked with hers.

‘I’m really sorry-´

‘No, don’t be, I just, you- you can’t be Chat Noir.’ Marinette said, staring into Adrien’s eyes, searching for something.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You can’t be Chat Noir because – because I’m in love with you Adrien. Me, Marinette and me Ladybug, I’m in love with you Adrien, and if you’re Chat Noir, this is dangerous. Something terrible could happen.’ She said sadly.

With mixed emotions, Adrien opened his mouth to speak, unsure of what would come out.

‘It’s okay Marinette, it’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out, we always do. Whatever might happen now that we know, loving you only makes me stronger, I know it, I have something to fight for and someone to fight with. You’re my partner, and you always come up with something, we’ll be fine.’

Marinette leant against him again, seemingly coming to the conclusion that there was no way of going back, only going forward and hey, this wasn’t so bad was it? The boy she loved, loved her back, and she hadn’t even said anything about! She felt like smacking herself in the face, and then it hit her; the pen, the Agreste pen was Adrien’s and Adrien was Chat Noir, which is why he had the pen. Marinette wanted to groan but resolved to kick herself mentally after Adrien left.

_‘I could’ve figured out who he was, if I’d just considered for a moment that Adrien could have been Chat Noir. I need to stop ruling things out…’_

Adrien wished silently that they could stay just there forever, Marinette’s soft hair tickled his neck and she felt warm leaning against him. He still had very mixed emotions about the situation, however lovely it was to be close to Marinette – she loved him, but as Adrien, not as Chat Noir…

‘Milady, do you… do you think you could love Chat Noir as much as you love Adrien?’ he asked quietly, barely above a whisper, his head low, not daring to look up in case her expression was one of disgust. He didn’t think he could take that.

Marinette didn’t move for a few moments and in every second that ticked past, Adrien felt something inside him grow weak. Then Marinette took both of Adrien’s hands in hers and looked up to face him.

‘Chat Noir is who you can be when your father’s expectations aren’t there, when you’re more free. I thought I couldn’t love Chat Noir because I was in love with Adrien, but since you’re one and the same, I can love that part of you just as much Adrien.’

Their eyes met and Adrien smiled warmly.

‘Thank you Marinette.’


End file.
